


Boxes

by periphery87



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, M/M, Missing Scene, post beyond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 11:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7755529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/periphery87/pseuds/periphery87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After you save a starbase full of lives, there is a little bit of letdown.</p><p>Alternatively: This is what we were born for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Boxes

They've just snatched Jim from the sky and he and Spock are having one of their moments. Under normal circumstances Leonard might begrudge them this, but his adrenaline is running too high to leave room for anything else. “All right, you two,” he says from his perch. “Is there anyone else that _I_ need to save?”

“No,” Jim says, laughing in wild-eyed relief.

“Anyone else who needs to be _stopped_?”

“Negative,” says Spock.

“In that case, where the hell should I land this thing?”

It’s Spock who decides they should follow protocol and head for the small-craft docks. The other two don’t bother to argue. It will give them time and space to breathe.

Sure enough, the entry docks are deserted. Jim spends a minute pacing the platform, making lists with Spock, before he pokes his head back into the vessel. “Bones, c’mon. We need to get back to central command. That’s where everybody is.”

“Not that I’m not thrilled at the idea of a damn party right now, Jim, but I can’t move.”

“Ah.” Jim twists in and around until he can squint up at Leonard’s face, lay a hand on his knee. “Something pinning you in?”

“No.”

“Okay. How about I give you a boost down then?”

Leonard nods shortly and they both pretend that this is strictly necessary. With Jim’s hands on him he can move again, dismount as though from an alien horse. He wobbles with the solidity under his feet, covers it up by clapping Jim’s shoulders, checking on him. “You good?”

“One piece, Bones. C’mon out now.”

On the platform Jim slips an arm around his shoulders and looks sternly at both him and Spock. “Before we go anywhere, are either of _you_ injured? More than you were before, that is.”

“Nah, Jim.”

“No, Captain.”

“Good. Off we go.”

They haven’t made it halfway down the terminal before the comms start crackling. “Captain,” says Scotty, “what _happened_ up there? We thought you were going ta be sucked out!”

“I was,” Jim says easily, “but Bones and Spock swooped out of nowhere and grabbed me.”

“Fantastic!” Scotty says.

“Christ,” says Leonard, because this is the moment his knees have chosen to buckle and suddenly now he cannot breathe he cannot breathe he cannot breathe. Jim’s arm tightens and Spock catches his elbow and together they lower him to the ground he cannot breathe. Jim sits next to him, speaking rapidly now into the comm.

“We’ll give you the full story soon, Mr. Scott. Just had to set down a ways away. Tell the Admiral we’re coming. Kirk out.” He flips the comm closed and drops it, taking Leonard’s hand instead. “Okay, Bones,” he says, rubbing his back. “Okay. All right. Breathe in now, nice and deep.”

Spock is squatting before them, face just slightly pinched. “Captain, I believed the doctor to be uninjured.”

“I am,” Leonard says shortly. Darkness is closing in at the corners of his vision. He drops his head into the hand that isn’t clutching Jim’s. “Ah, shit.”

“Spock, you know how you sort of… put all your emotions into a box and lock it up?”

“A crude metaphor, but I comprehend your meaning.”

“Humans can do that too, especially in times of crisis. But sometimes, after the crisis is over, the box just opens itself and all that stuff happens at once.”

Leonard glances up through his fingers in time to see Spock tilt his head, considering this. “Not a very efficient system.”

At this Jim and Leonard both chuckle. “That it’s not,” Leonard says, still breathing hard. He turns his head to look at Jim. “How are you so together right now?”

“Practice.”

“There’s a reason I don’t do things like this, Jim.”

“Yeah, I know.” Jim is still rubbing lazy circles over Leonard’s back, as though they have all the time in the universe. “But the reason isn’t that you can’t do it, Bones. Never has been. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind.”

“Really?”

“Really. _This_ was in my mind, though. I was prepared for this.”

“Thanks for _that_ ,” Leonard scoffs, but he leans into Jim, just a little.

“Well, I mean, I was right. You saved my ass, yet again, and you saved a whole bunch of other people all at once.” Jim kisses the top of his head and whispers, “I’m so damn proud of you, Bones.”

Leonard wants to scoff that one away too, but he’s too tired and thinking his too hard so instead he rests his head against Jim’s shoulder and concentrates on breathing. 

Spock settles in to sit quietly on his other side until Leonard is ready to move on. Jim spends the whole walk to Command demanding to know more about their “bonding experience.”

 

 

The debriefing is a mass of chaos and it takes hours. The three of them stick close together at first and are quickly surrounded by others of their crew. Uhura stands next to Spock, just a little closer than usual. Chekov is nearly bursting out of his skin with excitement. Scotty and Sulu draw Jim into conversation with the admiral.

Leonard hangs back and watches Jim. He is beautiful to watch, tonight. Whenever he mentions one of his crew his face lights up and he beckons that person forward to blush under his praise. He has a grasp of the big picture that Leonard can barely begin to comprehend, and he explains the events to the assembled officers with just the right mix of confidence and respect. He stands easily, listens easily, laughs easily, in the face of all that has happened today and all that is to come. 

This is what Jim was born for, Leonard thinks.

Jim looks around at him then, and he can read the pride and gratitude as he looks him over, looks _them_ over, his family and his crew.

No, Leonard thinks – this is what they all were born for.


End file.
